[Goanet-News] Goanet Reader: A cracked mirror, reflecting shattered journo images... and more

[Goanet Reader]

A cracked mirror, reflecting shattered journo images... and more

BY BEN ANTAO
ben.antao at rogers.com

In Black and White: Insiders' Stories About the Press in Goa
Goa 1556
Pages 217
Rs. 195 (in Goa)

I'M NOT sure if I am the right person to review this book
since I've contributed a chapter to it and may appear to be
less than objective in my critical perspective. However,
Frederick Noronha, the editor of In Black and White,
prefacing his request as a favour, wrote, "As you would
agree, promoting independent books needs visibility, and I'd
be grateful for any write-up you could do on it. Even critical."

In Black and White, Insiders' Stories About the Press in Goa,
was first published as an e-book on October 10, 2003 with the
title Behind the News: Voices from Goa's Press. It is a
collaborative effort of 20 journalists who have worked in the
Goan media or been associated with it from 1963 to 2008.

          Like a cracked mirror, the book -- while reflecting
          the shattered images of journalists during the
          post-Liberation period -- offers penetrating
          insights into the political culture as well as the
          self-governing way of life of the purveyors of news
          and views. And if the reporters and sub-editors who
          have stepped forward to unburden their unhappy
          experiences seem to be griping a lot, it's because
          they have a lot to gripe about.

When I first read the essays in the e-book, having not lived
and worked as a journalist in Goa since 1965, I was dismayed
by its content, seemingly eager and ardent to spill the beans
on the inner workings of news managements as if the scribes
were in a convulsive fit to outdo one another in their
personal stories of mistreatment, putdowns, spitefulness,
resentment, bitterness and perceived insults. And the editor
they chose to spew their bile on is Rajan Narayan, 60, the
current editor of the Goan Observer.

In the monsoon of 1983, Rajan was hired to launch the English
transformation of O Heraldo, the Portuguese daily. The launch
of the English Herald occurred on October 10, 1983 and
exactly twenty years later the e-book came out, ironically to
mark the departure of the editor.

There are four essays in the book revolving, like the earth
and the moon, around the sun-god Rajan Narayan, two of them
written by Frederick Noronha, who was a twenty-year-old in
1983 and one of the first trainee sub-editors hired by the
editor. According to Frederick, at least 30 journalists left
the employ of the Herald in the first four years of its
existence, with Frederick himself quitting in 1987 after Goa
was made a state of the Indian Union, which prompted national
and regional newspapers to appoint their own correspondents
in Goa. The Deccan Herald hired Frederick.

Reading the e-book again today in its new avatar of In Black
and White, I find the action of the 30 journalists quitting
the Herald in the first four years quite astonishing for
being extraordinary, worthy of note as it reveals the
character of Rajan Narayan in all its foibles, quirks and
idiosyncrasies. For this alone and a searchlight into the
workings of the print media of this period, a time of
resurgent journalism in the English language, the reader will
be enlightened and rewarded.

With a little diffidence, I'm going to present titbits about
Rajan whose influence is likened to a banyan tree by
Frederick. His essay dwells on the love-hate relationship
between the rookie reporters/deskmen and the editor whose ego
often clashed with then chief minister Pratapsingh Rane's.

          We are told that Rajan is a pamphleteer and not a
          traditional editor. The journalists who worked
          under him adopted the approach of 'dog does not eat
          dog,' which I found rather ironic after reading the
          mean and nasty things they have to say about their
          first editor. Indeed it is true that man biting dog
          is news!

Valmiki Faleiro calls attention to the guile, brilliance and
craftiness of Rajan in seizing the opportunity when the
Konkani language issue dominated the political debate in
1985-87. By aligning the Herald to the language aspirations
of the Catholics, Rajan catapulted the daily circulation of
the paper from 500 in 1983 (O Heraldo days) to 30,000 in
2003, thus making a name for himself in the name of Mai
Bhaas. In retrospect, it seems that Rajan's instincts were
right on. How, one wishes today, that he'd fight with equal
passion for making the Roman script as the official script
for Konkani along with Devnagari!

R. K. Nair, who worked for the Navhind Times as well as the
Herald (1986-89), after bemoaning the errors of facts and
typos in the Herald, takes the following swipe at Rajan.

"Rajan Narayan is essentially a rhetorician. He has a way
with words and can argue his case convincingly. But his
writings carried little conviction, which was the major
reason for the Herald's credibility crisis in those days. In
my view, the fundamental error he made was to plunge into the
middle of things rather than remaining a level-headed
observer that a good journalist is supposed to be. He made an
overzealous effort to ingratiate himself with a section of
the Goan society and failed miserably. The fact that even
today his Goan credentials are questioned bears this out."

Wow, what a judgment call do we have here! I wonder what Nair
would say today, four years after he wrote the above
indictment, upon learning that a felicitation committee of
well-heeled Goans, Christian and Hindu, raised Rs. 15 lakh
rupees as a gift to Rajan on his 60th birthday last year!

Then there is a humorous, good-natured piece written by
Visvas Paul D. Karra, who was a Grade 5 student at Don Bosco
High School in Panjim in 1983 when the Herald came on the
scene. In 'Growing up with the Herald', he calls the paper a
journalism school where he learned the tricks of the trade as
well as the nightmares.

"Do you know English?" Rajan asked him at the interview.
Visvas Paul, both a sub-editor and sports reporter in the
90s, delights the reader with stories of human interest
involving composers and linotype operators, including a
character who took Thursday off as he was told that Good
Friday fell on Maundy Thursday.

          And, as if to give the human side of Rajan, there
          is a fine article by Derek Almeida, who also
          started his career at the Herald in 1985. In a
          charming anecdote, Derek, now editor of Gomantak
          Times, writes:

"Rajan had two indulgencies -- smoking and chewing Halls
sweets. And the smoking nearly burnt him out one day. I was
in the office that day when a couple arrived to see Rajan. As
usual he lit a cigarette and was puffing away when the couple
noticed smoke under the table. It didn't take long for Rajan
to realize that his trouser pocket was smouldering. He thrust
his hand into the pocket to put out the fire and in the
process burnt his fingers. After a little slapping here and
there, the fire was put out."

"I was quickly summoned and told to buy a tube of Burnol.
Rajan never believed in moderation. He squeezed half the tube
on his fingers and continued the conversation with the
couple, with the yellow paste all over his hands. I don't
know how his pocket caught fire, but I think Rajan
absent-mindedly shoved the match in his pocket instead of the
ashtray."

Aside from the peccadilloes at Herald, In Black and White
carries articles about other newspapers that sprang up and
collapsed (West Coast Times and Novem Goem), the era of
'free-sheeters', Konkani language papers, sports journalism,
crime and rural reporting.

          In 'From journalist to publisher', Niraj Naik,
          publisher and editor of Digital Goa fortnightly,
          raises the flag on the attitudes and issues
          plaguing journalists and journalism in Goa. To wit,
          journalists' closeness to the political parties
          like the BJP, the emphasis on politics, the
          reporting of the ministers' words as the gospel
          truth, the suppression of official announcements
          and the general apathy towards reading in Goa
          despite high literacy.

And finally there is a chapter on the Times of India, by
Frederick Noronha, who assesses the impact of the TOI entry
into Goan journalism in 2008, a sobering piece on the
disturbing trend of current journalism in Goa and India.

Many readers might find the index a quick and handy guide to
their favourite topics, politicians, curiosities and what
have you.

And what about my own essay, did you ask? Well, if you're
interested in the first general elections of 1963, the
politicians and the role of the press in it, you're welcome
to read it.

---------------------------------------------------------

Ben Antao, 72, born and raised in Velim and Margao, Goa,
lives in Toronto, Canada. He's a journalist and author of
four novels and several short stories. His fourth novel
titled 'Living on the Market' and a bilingual travelogue 'The
lands of Sicily' (Le terre di Sicilia) were published in May,
2008. His email: ben.antao at rogers.com

This review appeared in the Goan Observer (June 7-13/08).

The book is available at Broadway Book Centre (18th June
Road, Panjim) broadwaybooksgoa.com or by mail-order from The
Other India Bookstore, Mapusa www.otherindiabookstore.com/
Or contact goa1556 at gmail.com